WATCH: Kansas basketball stars Christian Braun, Ochai Agbaji enjoy NBA Draft experience
Former Kansas stars Christian Braun and Ochai Agbaji took in every sight and sound on Thursday, the day their lives changed forever due to the 2022 NBA Draft.
First, the Cavaliers used the No. 14 pick of the first round on Agbaji, bringing him to Cleveland. Then, with the No. 21 pick of the first round, Braun was selected by the Denver Nuggets.
After the Jayhawks duo realized their NBA dreams, Kansas Basketball took to Twitter to share a behind-the-scenes video of the former stars enjoying their moments.
Moreover, Abaji has a lengthy list of personal awards from the past season, including NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player and consensus first-team All-American. However, the national championship win will be his favorite of the bunch, finally breaking through and winning one. During the tournament run, Agbaji averaged 13.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
Within the program, Agbaji was named one of three players to win the Danny Manning “Mr. Jayhawk” Award. He shared it alongside Mitch Lightfoot and David McCormack after the trio played an intricate part in the Jayhawks lifting another banner inside Phog Allen Fieldhouse.
Meanwhile, Braun was on the Big 12 All-Freshman team in 2020. Then, in 2022, he was Second-team All-Big 12. He was an incredibly important player for the Kansas Jayhawks, playing better than thirty minutes as both a sophomore and a junior. His 31 points against St. John’s were a season-high for the 2021-22 season.
On his career, Braun averaged 10.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. He also shot 44.9% from the field and 37.8% from three-point range on his career.
Prior to the NBA Draft, the former Kansas forward was projected as a borderline first-round pick. CBS Sports had him going 27th overall. Meanwhile, ESPN pegged him as the second pick in the second round.
A three-star recruit in the Class of 2019, Braun was never a sure thing for the NBA. It’s a position he was able to get to through hard work and developing his game throughout his college career.
Ochai Agbaji and Christian Braun were forever immortalized in Kansas history by bringing a title home. Now, the duo will look to carry their lessons learned, parlaying them into a lengthy career at the next level.
On3’s Dan Morrison and Griffin McVeigh contributed to this article.